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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · deal · board · scale · straw · toast · row · bat

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. scale — in music
  6. row — a line
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. scale — size or range
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. toast — bread
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bat — the animal
  14. board — a committee
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. board — to get on
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. deal — to handle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com